Process of making wire-rope clamp clips



G. C. SOULE AND J. B. WOODBURY.

PROCESS OF MAKING WIRE ROPE CLAMP CLIPS.

. APPLlCATlON FILED MAR. 22. 1920.

1 9422, 3 1 4 Patented July 11, 1922.

UNEE

GEORGE C. SOULE AND JOHN B. WOODBUR-Y, OF SOUTH PORTLAND, IVIAI NE.

PROCESS OF MAKING WIRE-ROPE CLAMP CLIPS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 11, 1922.

Application filed March 22, 1920. Serial No. 367,923.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, Gnonon C. SoULE and JOHN B. lVoonBrniY, citizens of the United States, both residing at South Fort land, in the county of Cumberland and State of Maine, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Making ire-Rope Clamp Clips, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to the construction of the body portion of a wire rope clamp of that class having a U-shaped clamping bolt which embraces the wire rope and a body portion having on each side of the U-shaped bolt a pair of upstanding studs, the space between them forming the guide for the two thicknesses of rope. The studs on the clamp bodies made of drop forgings and malleable iron contain considerable stock and are designed to resist the lateral pressure coming from the expansion of the rope when it is clamped in position.

These clamps are made for the purpose'of holding two strands of wire rope clamped together with suflicient friction so that they cannot under ordinary circumstances slide longitudinally one with relation to the other.

As these wire rope clamps have been hitherto made, they have been either of malleable iron or of dropped forgings.

The object of our invention is to make a clamp of this character or the body portion of such a clamp which can be made of bent or pressed steel formed of cold metal without the necessity of heating.

In carrying out this purpose, we make use of a relatively thin bar or plate of steel forming therein holes for the passage of the U- shaped bolt, cuttim out at each side of the plate opposite the fiflt holes deeply indented recesses forming a pair of studs or guides which may be turned into an upright position leaving a space between them for the passage of the rope and so that all the stress which would come on the uprights would be delivered to them at their edges or in a line of their greatest thickness.

Thus, we are able to form from a piece of cold flat steel a clamp having two pairs of upright guides with the metal so disposed that it will resist a very great strain because the strain comes edgewise upon the relatively thin upright studs or guides.

As a result of this construction, these rope clamps can be turned out of relatively thin unheated steel with great rapidity and cheapness, being equally strong as the clamps made by the drop-forging stronger than. malleable cross section.

In making up the body of our clamp, we simply cut from a bar of flat steel a generally rectangular blank, punch out a pair of holes spaced apart the width of the rope and in the center line of the bar, forming on each side of the pair of bolt holes a pair of deeply indented recesses, leaving two pairs of outwardly projecting arms or studs, each pair separated by a space just the width of the rope, the four arms being then turned up into position to form rope guides to guide the two thicknesses of rope as they pass through the U-shaped bolt.

We have illustrated our invention in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan of the blank as first cut from the bar or other portion of fiat material,

Figs. 2, 3, and 4 are end views of bars of different form which may be used for our clamp body.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the completed clamp showing the ropes in position and,

process and much iron of the same Fig. 6 is a section on the line 1-1 of F ig. 5. a I

eferring to Fig. 1, two bolt openings 3-3 are formed in the blank on the center line of the bar from which the blank is cut and spaced apart just far enough to allow for the thickness of the rope between the holes.

On opposite sides of the blank and in line with the space between the bolt holes, we form two deeply indented recesses 22, leaving on each side of each recess a stud or projection 4L tapering preferably from the base to the end. The sides of each recess are parallel with each other and the recess is deep enough to contain two thicknesses of wire rope.

By simply turning up the arms 4 into an upright position, the base is complete. In Figs. 5 and 6 are represented the complete device including U-shaped bolt 7 and nuts 8. The strands of wire rope are shown at 9.

In Figs. 2, 3, and 4:, we have shown cross sections of bars of various sections, their lateral edges 6 being more or less sharpened for the reason that the upper end of the uprights which receive no strain fromthe Wire rope need not have much material.

\Ve claim 1- The process of Inaking clamp members for Wire rope clamps of the class 'deseribed'which consists of punching from a generally reetangular plate a'pair of holes separated by the thickness of the rope and a pair of oppo- 10 site slots extending in from'theedges of said plate and at right angles t0 a line passingtlie center of said ho'lesto form a pair of ears and finally turning said ears upwardly substantially at right angles to the body of said plate.

In testimony whereof'we affix our signatures.

GEO. C. SOULE. JOHN B. WOODBURY. 

